Encaustic ‘The Heat is On’

beginning lessons for the high school art program

Maureen CaouetteDirector of Arts, City of Fitchburg

Fitchburg, Massachusetts

Fitchburg High School Art 3 Students & Art Teacher - Erin Feeney

WHY WAX?

It all started…

With the Greeks over 2000 years ago (Hellenistic Period)

The Egyptians –

Painting, Mummification practices, highlighting on marble statues & Mummy portraits

In the last 100 years…Jasper Johns

SAFETY FIRST

• The skillet temperature should not exceed 200°. At 250°, encaustic fumes become toxic and will start smoking. Use a thermometer to check that the temperature gauge of the skillet is accurate. Ideally, 150 -175 degrees works well with Enkaustikos wax. This is the wax with the lowest melting temp that I have found so far.

• Good ventilation is necessary. Open a window and use a fan facing away from the work area to draw any fumes away from you.

Vocabulary

Encaustic: Medium: Gun: Palette: Transparent: Fuse: Warm:

Getting Started

6 years ago in a Provincetown Gallery on Cape Cod

Started taking workshops Fall ’08

Collage – 5 yrs

Painting -3 yrs

Attended the 2011 & 2012 International Encaustic Conference Provincetown, MA

Love nest

With bees wax only

Torn papers

Lace

Pressed flowers

Dress patterns

Three sisters

Mixed Media: photo transfer, painting, lace monoprint, paper collage

Stoneroots

Painting

Sheltered shore

Heat sources

Embossing guns

Avoid using heat guns.

Use ‘Embossing’ guns – cheaper & safer

Price: $10 each

Fusing with embossing Guns

Embossing guns are on the counters, students have assigned stations.

Cheap natural bristle brushes

Brushes

Brushes can be Hake which are wonderful but $$ for HS & once used they are only for wax from then on

Tools

Clay tools

Quilting or tacking iron

Small loaf tins

Dental tools

Repousse tools

Heat Source

Pancake Griddle

Price: $19.00

Electric pan

$2.00 from second hand store

Small tins

Griddle is the best

Aluminum palette

Expensive and not necessary for High School setup

Temperature

Keep heat between 150 to 175degrees F

Use a small surface thermometer

Substrate: birch panels or-

Culled wood is found at the back of most Home Depot stores and is $.50 a panel!

Gesso, bare, or collage

The substrate must have a porous surface for the wax to grab onto it

Leave bare

Encaustic gesso $$

paper

Collage technique with high school

classes Use decorative

napkins

Tissue paper

Permanent makers

Using decorative napkins

Adding medium on to napkin from the

center out Students peel

off all the back layers of the napkin, leaving the very thin top layer before they gently rub it on to the warm wax

Ephemera

Pressed flowers or greens or petals

Tissue paper

Letters

Sketchbook drawings

photocopiesDetail

Adding glitter(on student brought it in as her

ephemera)

Collage

Napkins

Lace

Artist papers

Dress patterns

Dried flowers

Buttons

Combining painting technique with collage

On natural board

Dress patterns

Printed shopping bag

lace

Cut two

Photo Transfer

21 in LondonHaystack

Photo transfer technique

Fun to do but it takes time and pressure.

Place a toner based photo copy onto slightly warm, smooth wax and spoon or burnish the photo into the wax for a good 15+ minutes. Wet the back of the copy and gently rub the paper off.

Transparent Photo Collageon youtube –Maureen Caouette -Alternative process photo

exhibit

Women, Waiting, Watching Detail

Photo Transfer with torn paper overlay plus wax painting

The Keeper

Getting started

Students experimented with painting with the wax, learning to fuse each layer and how much heat to use. Start small!

Adding medium over wax droplets

Working together

Students need to work collaboratively for safety reasons and as a studio habit.

Adding the base coats

Brushes stay at the wax tables in the wax on the griddles

Painting with Wax

I shared with the students the time and experiments that I went through to transfer my plein aire painting style to an encaustic painting.

Fusing each layer

Using Fabric

Photo transfer

‘just breathe’

Detail

Preplanning plays into the composition regarding the layering and positioning of materials. Students are reminded to step ‘Away from the Artwork’ to do a formative, peer to peer assessment.

Lines were made by drawingonto one ply tissue and then fusing the tissue into the wax.

So, Why Encaustic Art?

New & engaging!

Historic & Cultural

Artistic Practice

Technical

Studio Habits

Ethereal

Layers

Multi-medium

Message Maker

Response

21st Century Skills: Creativity

Critical ThinkingCommunicationCollaboration

The 4 Cs—

Essential Skills All Students Need to Succeed

Creativity

Discovering novel ways to think, learn and do

Critical Thinking

Using original ideas to solve problems

Communication

Expressing thoughts and feelings effectively

Collaboration

Working in partnership with others toward

a common goal